EM626 - Marine Nuclear Propulsion

Credits: 3

To provide a qualitative and quantitative overview of the topics necessary to understand marine-nuclear propulsion. The course will be presented from the perspective of the nuclear reactor as an alternative heat source to, for example, oil-fired boilers in a conventional propulsion plant utilizing the Rankine steam cycle (albeit somewhat older vintage). The course will be fast-paced, with the information presented at a depth consistent with the course objective and time constraints. The course project will be a Matlab/Simulink simulation of a commercial marine-nuclear propulsion plant providing the essential dynamics observed during selected operating scenarios. The students are guided through the model’s development as the course progresses’ using data from the Nuclear Ship Savannah’s propulsion plant design documentation (the Savannah is the world’s first nuclear powered merchant ship). The Savannahs reactor/reactor plant design is similar to many existing, land-based pressurized water reactor designs in operation throughout the world today. As such, the student will derive an understanding of these reactors as well.

Prerequisites: Undergraduate thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid flow, differential equations. Familiarity with PC operation.

U.S. MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY

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EM626 - Marine Nuclear Propulsion